How I Met My Idiot
by AmenToTheMangaBible11
Summary: He was intimidating, attractive, tall, and in need of the job she'd advertised. They were different in every way, but she hired him that day anyway because he just wouldn't give up. She was a talented musician, he had coincidental connections she never imagined, and they completed each other in the strangest version of perfect. She was his world, and he was the idiot she loved. AU.
1. Chapter 1

I don't really have any idea where this came from. My excuse: Had a liter of Mountain Dew before bed and wrote this at three thirty in the morning. Seems logical?

Whenever it's time for a song in this, I will put the name of the song in a little break in the text so you can play it while you read. It'll make everything so much more enjoyable! Example: (Undone) That's what it'll look like! - That's a great song by FFH by the way. Check it out!

**Disclaimer: **AMB11 doesn't own Naruto!

...And it begins.

* * *

Life works in the strangest fashions sometimes, twisting and swerving like that out of the way dirt road we all have to take to get to that one family member's house that lives in the middle of nowhere. Or that one aisle in the grocery store that had what you wanted, but no matter how many times you walked past it, you just couldn't find the thing you were looking for. It's like when you get the craving for Skittles, but you're stuck with a handful of black licorice instead. My life never seemed to even compare to that of anyone else's. When you're a naturally reserved person, you tend to shy away from adventure when it shows up on your front doorstep; maybe even distract it with some freshly baked cookies and then slam the door on it before it could worm it's way into your life. It was just my luck, that the adventure that showed up on my doorstep was too dim to realize I'd shut the door and kept right on banging even after it had eaten my cookies. It was the day I met the blonde idiot that changed my life.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

"You still looking for a live-in maid?"

"W-well, yes, but I'm n-not sure you're w-what I'm looking f-for."

"And why in God's-name not?" He jammed his foot into the door just as she tried to shut it. A furious blush rushed to Hinata's cheeks, and she suddenly felt a little dizzy.

"Y-you don't e-exactly seem like t-the type to g-go for this t-type of job." She tried to shut her front door again, but he leaned his shoulder against the wood and put his weight up against it. The chain necklace around his neck clanked against the knocker on the door loudly, the sound leaving an echoing ringing sound in Hinata's sensitive ears. "M-maybe you'd b-be better s-suited s-somewhere else mister."

The blonde giant took a step back from the door, Hinata nearly falling down at the sudden absence of his weight. "You got that right, princess." Hinata chanced a look upwards, her crystalline eyes meeting the most alluring mixture of azure and cerulean when his gaze caught hers. He crossed his arms across his chest and leaned his weight against the door frame. "But, please. I'm begging ya, at least give me a chance. I'll fill out an application, whatever it is I gotta do, I'll do it. I need this." A lock of his blonde hair fell across his eyes, covering the piercings that went through his eyebrow. Hinata tucked a strand of her long, indigo hair behind her ear and looked to the left nervously, staring straight at the brick wall that made up one side of her porch. "Come on, Princess. I'll get down on my knees right here and beg if I have to." Hinata seriously didn't doubt that he'd do it.

"N-no! D-don't do t-that." She really wanted this man to leave so she could go back inside and rest. "Y-you want t-this that m-much?" She saw his chin bob up and down while keeping her eyes level with the point directly in front of her, which happened to be occupied by the very broad chest of the man in front of her. "A-alright then. Come i-in." Hinata stepped aside and hid behind the door as she welcomed the ginormous man into her home.

"Seriously? Are you for real?" She peeked around the edge of the door and nodded slightly before ducking back into her hiding place. The blonde man stepped over the threshold of the door and onto the marble floor of Hinata's foyer.

"P-please take y-your s-shoes off a-at the door," Hinata squeaked out as she hustled past her guest and into the formal sitting room just off of the entryway. She heard a whistle from behind her and peeked over her shoulder, her face growing redder until it practically radiated heat when she realized that the blue-eyed man was looking around the room as if it was the nicest thing he'd ever seen; she honestly thought the room was a mess.

"I'm kinda afraid to touch anything, ya know? Like something'll break if I'm not careful." A smile lit up his face, white teeth seeming eerily bright compared to the black snake-bite piercings in his lower lip.

"I u-understand. P-please t-take a s-seat anywhere you'd l-like." Hinata sat down on the floral couch in front of the glass coffee table and smoothed a few wrinkles on her plaid skirt. She jumped when the bulky blonde sat down next to her, his weight making him sink so far into the couch that she felt herself begin to slide down towards him; she inconspicuously scooted just a little farther away.

"Alright. So what kinda qualifications do I need, or are you the type of person to just ask a few questions and then give a guy a trial period? Either is fine by me," He said, his baritone voice practically booming in the large room.

"R-right, well..." She fiddled with her glasses before eventually just pulling them off in frustration and using them to keep her shaking hands still by clenching them tightly in her lap. "D-do you know w-what it i-is the job e-entails?" She couldn't even bring herself to look at him; he was just so intimidating!

"Yeah, of course. I get to live here so long as I provide two meals a day for you and keep the house," He paused, poking his tongue into the inside of his cheek as if the word didn't quite fit, "Mansion. There, that sounds better. I have to keep the mansion clean everyday and also make sure it stays safe."

"C-correct. Why d-don't you l-l-list some o-of your job e-experience, or i-if you h-have a r-resume, that'd be perfect." Hinata sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth and rolled her thumbs together nervously while he dug around in the various pockets on his black cargo pants. His eyes lit up, and she noticed that they almost seemed purple for a moment before they settled back into the mysterious blue color that she couldn't quite place.

"It's not quite a resume, but it's got my list of employments and some of my qualities if that'll work. I can just tell ya everything else you wanna know." Hinata took the folded piece of paper from him and slid her glasses back onto her nose with shaking fingers. "Just so you know, my name is Naruto Uzumaki. I forgot to put it on there because I really wasn't expecting to find a job opportunity today. Life's funny like that."

Hinata nodded politely and skimmed over the short lists typed out on the wrinkled paper. Naruto had actually worked some decent jobs; a general manager here, he had even owned his own small-time publishing business at one point in time. Her ice-blue eyes peered up through her thick, dark lashes at the man beside her. She felt the blood in her face boil under her skin, and was sure that someone could've fried an egg on her at that moment. He was such an odd character.

The first thing that drew her eye, aside from his abnormal size, was the almost tribal-looking black and white tattoo that spiraled all the way from under the collar of his shirt, up his neck and into his hairline behind his right ear. She could've spent hours staring at the intricate markings, and never would've been able to determine the starting and ending points; it was really a beautiful artwork. Naruto tucked a bit of his blonde hair, which she felt was just a little bit too long, behind his ear, and she noticed that it had been pierced at least six times.

Hinata felt her skin crawl at the intimidation factor this man seemed to emanate, but then he turned his focus back to her, and she instantly felt relaxed under the soft gaze of his incredibly blue eyes. "So, do I make the cut Ms. Hyuga?" Her eyes darted down to her lap, ashamed to look him in the eye since he'd caught her staring at him.

"H-how did y-you know m-my n-name?" His laughter was loud, yet kind sounding at the same time, and she wondered how he pulled off such a scary look with a voice as gentle and soothing as his oceanic eyes.

"It was written on your mailbox." His smile was wide, stretching the whisker-like tattoos that adorned his cheeks.

"I-... Y-yes, I s-suppose i-it is." Her voice seemed so quiet compared to his, even though she was speaking as loudly as she normally did; this man just screamed volume in every way possible to her. "I t-think I'd j-just like to ask a f-few p-personal questions and t-then we'll s-see Mr. U-Uzumaki."

"Bring it on, boss lady. But, please, call me Naruto. Mr. Uzumaki is my father, and I'm not old enough for people to be comparing me to him yet," Naruto said, the amused undertone in his voice doing its' best to ease the awkwardness that practically radiated from Hinata; sometimes it stunk to be shy.

"O-of course. N-Naruto..."

"Just to make this go a bit faster, I'll go ahead and give you a proper introduction!" He jumped from his seat on the couch and hurried around to the other side of the coffee table. He bowed at the waist with an elegant wave of his hand, which looked very strange when someone that looked like him was doing it, and tilted his head up to look at her, the gleam in his eye one she was quickly associating with his amusement. He righted himself and stood up as straight as he could, Hinata having to bend her neck backwards just to keep her gaze level with his face. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'm twenty-four years old. I'm a college graduate, my two main studies being art and theater, however I am going back to school now to get a degree in business and entrepreneurship so I can open my own bookstore one day. I'm an only child and I live out in the country with both of my parents. They own the art and concert hall here in town. My favorite foods are cup ramen and homemade ramen." The corners of his lips twitched up in a ghost of a smile, and Hinata quickly felt herself wanting to smile with him; his happiness was contagious. Naruto sat down right where he'd been standing, resting his elbows on the tabletop in front of him. "Was there anything else you wanted to know about me?"

Hinata shook her head and bit the inside of her cheek, scanning over the paper in her hand one last time. She shifted uncomfortably under his hopeful stare, and she felt her heart skip a beat when he laced his fingers together and slid to his knees, begging like he'd almost done on the porch. She suddenly felt like she'd regret her decision later.

"H-how much e-experience do you h-have w-w-with cleaning?" His smile was a few teeth wider than it had been all morning.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Thanks so much for giving me a chance Ms. Hyuga! You don't know how much this means to me." Hinata hummed quietly in response, still a bit wary of his presence behind her. She led her new house-guest up a flight of spiraling stairs and into the left wing of the house, eventually reaching the hallway that would be his for the next week while he worked through the trial period of the job. Naruto hummed a tune to himself happily as he followed his new employer, who, to him, looked much like a high school student. "So, Ms. Hyuga, why are you the one interviewing me and any other applicants? Shouldn't your parents be the ones to deal with that? Will I have to go through another interview with someone else too?"

Hinata pulled at the hem of her white shirt and felt tears prickle behind her eyes at the jab at her looks. She wanted to turn around and yell at him that not everyone can be an intimidating giant, or even just be big enough to look their age, and she felt frustrated when she knew she couldn't. Instead she just glanced at him over her shoulder and whispered, "I'm 26. I l-live a-alone."

Naruto's face visibly fell into one of surprise, just as Hinata had expected it to, but what she hadn't seen coming was that when he closed his jaw, his lips curled into yet another of his eye-touching smiles. "Wasn't expecting that. You're older than me, huh? I guess appearances really can be deceiving." His smile grew so wide that he had to close his eyes, and Hinata thought it added an innocence to his face that hadn't been there before.

"I-I'm j-just small." Hinata felt herself begin to shake when Naruto placed a hand on top of her head and ruffled her hair just a bit, the rings on his fingers weighing her down just a bit.

"And I'm just big. I ain't nothing to be scared of princess, so just relax a bit." He winked at her and pulled his hand back, immediately shoving it into the back pocket of his pants. Hinata held her hands close to her chest and clenched her fingers into tight fists to stop them from shaking, so she just nodded her head and turned back around to show him where to go.

"Y-you c-can choose a-any of t-the bedrooms i-in th-this hallway f-for now. I-if you're s-still h-here b-by the end o-of t-the week, I'll h-have you m-move into a r-real room i-instead o-of the guestrooms. F-feel f-free to look a-around once y-you've settled." Naruto waited until she'd inched around him, keeping her eyes on him at all times, and then darted down the hall. A sigh escaped between his pink lips, and he wondered why she'd hired him if she distrusted him that much.

The blonde man covered his eyes and pointed down the hall, spun around for a few quick seconds, and then peeked between his fingers when he stopped. "Guess that's where I'm staying." He turned the glass knob on the cream colored door as gently as he could, afraid of being billed for breaking something on his first day on the job. "This is what she calls a guest room?" The extravagance of the room was incredible, and the amount of detailing put into everything made his knees feel weak; it must have cost a fortune, and yet there were several other rooms just like it?

The walls were painted a yellowish color that, when the sun peeked in through the wide window, appeared to be a light shade of orange. His bare feet left shallow indents in the soft creme carpet as he made his way to the four poster bed. The dark-stained wood posts spiraled up far above his head and stopped just under the relatively high ceiling. The comforter on the bed was a patchwork of seasonal fall colors, and Naruto instantly fell in love with the burnt orange sheets hidden underneath the ornate bed spread. He sat down, surprised when he didn't actually dip into the mattress like normal, but instead sank just enough for it to be extremely comfortable. "Is this memory foam? God, what doesn't she have?" He buried his face in one of the pillows and sighed happily.

"Oh crap, I should probably call Mom so she doesn't kill me when I don't show up for dinner." Naruto pulled himself from the comfort of the nicest bed he'd ever sat on and slid to the floor, crawling slowly over to where he'd thrown his jacket when he'd walked inside. He dug his iPhone from inside the pocket of the leather jacket and pulled a gum wrapper off of the orange casing. His face hit the floor in front of him once he'd dialed the number, his entire body finally feeling the fatigue of the day, and he waited for the tyrant he called 'Mom' to answer the phone.

_"Hello?" _Naruto's eyes widened in shock when the gentle masculine voice came over the line, and he instantly felt just a little bit of worry. Where was his mother?

"Uh, hey Dad. Something wrong with Mom? She's always the one to answer the phone." His voice was muffled a bit by the carpet pressed against his face, but he knew that his father, Minato, could still hear him just fine.

_"Yeah, she's fine. Just a bit stressed because her star act for her show tomorrow canceled on her right as she was cooking dinner. She actually set the kitchen on fire, but I got it under control." _Naruto loved his father, especially the amount of patience he held for the blonde boy's hot-headed mother.

"Maybe a bit of good news would make you both feel better." Naruto waited until he heard his father put the phone on speaker; his mother must have been in the room. He took a deep breath and sat up on his knees. "I got a job!"

_"You aren't serious, are you Naru? That fast? It better not be at some gas station or a fast food place again. You know how I feel about you working in those types of places!" _The feminine voice was about ten decibels louder than Minato's had been, and Naruto had to pull the speaker away from his ear so that he wouldn't go deaf.

_"Kushina, dear, please calm down. Let the boy explain first!" _Thank God for the logical reasoning that is Minato. Naruto grinned.

"Yeah, Mom! This place is awesome. It's pretty much a mansion. I even get my own room here."

_"What exactly are you doing there?" _Kushina's voice had quieted just a bit, and Naruto could hear the underlying concern and curiosity in her voice.

"I suppose I'll be a butler of sorts. I just have to cook and clean for this lady. I suppose I'll come by later to get some stuff and a carry on-" (Kesson Daslef) Naruto's voice faded when he heard music start playing somewhere in the house. "H-hey, I'll call you guys back. I have somewhere I need to go." He ended the call and hurriedly got to his feet. The second he'd opened the door, he rushed out into the hall and down towards the stairs, keeping to the middle of the corridors to avoid breaking any of the expensive looking decorations that were placed throughout the building.

The song picked up a bit, and Naruto sped up, running in a flat out sprint while looking through every open door, trying to find the piano that was playing somewhere in the mansion. He skipped down the steps, jumping down to the landing once he'd gotten to the bottom four. _'This song... I know this song. This was the first song my Dad played when he bought the music hall where he met Mom.' _Naruto raced through the kitchen and flew through the grand foyer, his footsteps echoing off of the raised ceiling and marble floors.

The piano grew louder, and Naruto ran along the outside edge of the sitting room he'd been interviewed in. He peeked around the edge of the doorway to a room that was tucked into the corner behind some bookshelves, his eyes widening at what he saw.

The most beautiful grand piano he'd seen sat in the middle of the otherwise empty room, the only decoration being the white curtains that flowed delicately in front of the window. He saw the small, yet graceful fingers of his new boss move swiftly across the black and white keys, her hair sweeping across her lower back as they danced across the keys beautifully. Naruto bit at his lip, suddenly nervous about standing there listening as she played, and accidentally bumped against the sliding door when he backed out of the room. Hinata jumped, banging her fingers down onto the keys just as she finished a complicated rhythm.

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to interrupt you. I just..." Naruto glanced away and shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting. "I recognized the song from somewhere and I wanted to see if it was you playing it."

"I-I s-see." Hinata spun around on the bench she was sitting on and crossed her legs at the ankle.

"Say, have you already eaten dinner yet?" Naruto stepped into the room and slowly made his way towards Hinata, taking a seat on the wooden floor beside the bench. Hinata's hair swung delicately when she shook her head, and she fumbled around a bit as she tried to get her glasses back onto her nose with shaky fingers; this man made her so nervous by just being there. "Great! My folks are curious about my new job, and my mom is an excellent cook when she isn't burning down the kitchen. It'd be a real honor if you'd let me take you there to eat for tonight. I promise I'll cook tomorrow." Naruto turned his big blue eyes on her, his lower lip jutting out ever-so-slightly.

"I-I..." Hinata couldn't tear her eyes away from his slightly watery gaze, and knew that she was trying to fight a losing battle. She never was much of a fighter anyway. "J-just for t-tonight... t-then..." A small smile lit up her face when he pumped his fists in the air and fell back down to the ground. "W-when sh-should we g-go?"

"It's about a twenty minute ride from here on my bicycle, but it shouldn't take too long if you have a car." He crossed his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

"Y-you rode a b-bike h-h-here?" Naruto just nodded, so she assumed it wasn't that big of a deal. "I-I d-don't drive, b-but t-there sh-should b-be a f-few family v-vehicles i-i-in the garage."

"I have a license, so I can take ya." Hinata fidgeting nervously on the bench, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the bare skin under the hem of her knee-length skirt. "Like I said, I didn't mean to interrupt ya, go ahead and keep playing if you wanna." He gripped both of her ankles in one strong hand and spun her around on the slick seat, released her, then relaxed back onto the floor to listen.

Hinata rubbed her ankles together to get rid of the burning feeling his hand had left on her skin and raised her hands to the piano to pick up where she had left off. _'He is so strange.' _She looked at his whiskered face from the corner of her eye, her fingers once again dancing across the keys as she spun a beautiful waltz through the calm atmosphere of the room. She closed her eyes, everything around her silencing and melding into a void as she played, totally caught up in every harmonious sound that flowed from the open piano. The room was gone, he was gone, and everything about her felt changed when the song she'd been playing finally came to an end. Music was her power, and it was the only time she felt that power rush through her and destroy the fears that were constantly plaguing her. She came down from her own little world when Naruto clapped enthusiastically from his spot on the ground beside her.

"Play something else, I don't mind if we're a bit late." She held his gaze for the first time without hesitation and smiled elegantly.

_'He's certainly strange, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to have at least one adventure in my life.'_

. . . . . . . . . .

End Chapter 1!

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1. Alright, expect another one of these soon, because it was fun to get to write something so light hearted for once. Expect this to just be a romantic and cute story with little to no drama at all. I guess my subconscious needed a break from all of the evil torture I put it through to come up with my other plots, and decided that it wanted to write something that could just be sweet and happy all the way through.

2. So, I've always seen Naruto depicted as the goodie two shoes little guy that's always a little ray of sunshine and no one is ever afraid of him and blah blah blah. I'm sick of that crap! I wanted to write him just a little different, yet keep him in character with how he really is, loving and devoted, yet a little bit quirky as well. The tough looking, tall and buff man mentioned quite a few times above ^ is what I came up with. If you want to know what inspired his character for this story, look up the anime My Little Monster and check out the main guy in it, Haru. There aren't many similarities, but that was what really did give me the idea for this Naruto that will be built throughout this story.

3. I feel like Hinata is sort of the way she is in Naruto; quiet, reserved, shy, and just a little bit afraid to be around Naruto (except in this story it's because he's scary and not because she's in love with him as of yet.) She lives alone in this huge house, and is kind of afraid to go out into the world. Does anybody think that she'll have any kind of regrets about letting her _adventure _through the door that day?

4. I have a new idea for a story that I'm working on, and I'd love to know if any of you readers would be interested in reading it if I were to post it! Here's a bit about it:

So, this random piece of weirdness came to me when I was at school for band practice a few days ago. A couple of friends of mine were having a "fight" (they're both guys) and they were trying to beat the crap out of each other mindlessly just because they could. Well, one of my upperclassman suddenly takes them both, shoves them in a closet, and locks the door with a key. She's a tough cookie y'all! Then she just tells them to talk it out and leaves with the key! They were stuck in there for nearly twenty minutes, and it suddenly got me thinking, what if the Naruto characters were suddenly locked together without the use of their abilities? What would happen? Then, of course, I had to twist it even more to try and be even slightly more original, and the first thing that came to mind was, Tobi. Good ole Tobi. So, imagine this: The Naruto characters locked together in a screwed up genjustu courtesy of Tobi, the catch being that they've all switched bodies/minds and continue to do so every twenty-four hours that they're stuck together in this strange place the oldest Uchiha has imagined. Fun, huh? Tobi is a good therapist, no doubt about it.

Please leave your comments in a review! R & R, Love AMB11!


	2. Chapter 2

Time to update this I guess, because it's been way too long. More explanation at the bottom. Been busy for a while, but now I give you chapter 2! Enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **

Naruto: Does AMB11 own us or something? She continues to write all of these stories about us without even asking.

Hinata: S-she doesn't...

Naruto: What a relief. So it's just a sick habit then?

Author: Would you shut up already! I have the power to kill you off!

Naruto: ...Oh dangit! AMB11 doesn't own Naruto. ...Please don't hurt me...

Hinata: *Sigh*

* * *

"Do you maybe have anything just a little bit newer?" Naruto set the corner of the white sheet back down on the hood of the car and brushed the dust from his hands.

"T-This is j-just a s-summer h-home." The end of the sleeves on Hinata's jacket were tucked into her shaking fists. "M-My father u-used to be a c-collector, s-so he k-kept h-h-his cars h-here."

Dust billowed in the air when the blonde man swung the sheet off of the 1928 A-Model Ford. He sneezed loudly then ran a hand over the newly restored, fiery red paint job on the car. "Used to be?" Naruto's shoes squeaked on the concrete ground of the garage and the light above his head flickered irritatingly for a second before it settled.

"H-He p-passed a f-few months ago," Hinata said as she approached the old car and slid into the passenger seat. She bit her trembling lip.

"I'm sorry to hear that." He opened the car door on the driver's side and sent her a look that clearly said he meant it. "You know, you're lucky I can drive stick or else we wouldn't be going anywhere." The vehicle rocked a bit when Naruto flopped into the drivers' seat. The door squealed shut loudly behind him. He turned the key he'd found hanging on the car antenna in the ignition. The engine roared to life beautifully. "Everybody's gotta love such a classic car."

The window was cool against Hinata's cheek, and with each breath the window fogged up just a little more until she couldn't see through the glass any longer. Her glasses slid down her nose, but she made no move to stop them.

"You alright?" Naruto's hands spun across the steering wheel smoothly.

"Fine," Hinata mumbled into the palm of her hand as she slid the delicate metal and plastic back up her nose.

The blonde just hummed in response to show he'd heard her, and she was thankful that he hadn't pressed for answers. She spoke too soon. "You sure? Because I know just what fine looks like, and," he paused to glance at her and then looked back toward the road, "you sure as heck ain't it."

Her fingers fumbled in her lap until she folded them together to keep them still. "I j-just don't l-like c-cars."

"S'that all? Remember, I'm your butler, er maid, or whatever the heck you wanna call me. I'm here for ya, so don't expect me to keep quiet when you look like you're about to cry." The car lurched suddenly to the left as he made a very sharp turn. A nervous grin peeked out from around his shaggy hair, and Hinata tightened the grip her teeth had on her lower lip to keep the smile at bay.

"Alright. J-just d-don't expect m-me to an-answer you." It was silent for a moment, all except for the thrum of the engine and the occasional piece of gravel knocking against the undercarriage.

"Will you tell me why you don't like cars?" Hinata kept her gaze on his fingers tapping away at the steering wheel to some imaginary music. "Huh?"

A small breath of air escaped her lips, and she refocused her gaze on the traffic light in front of them that had turned red. The brakes squealed as the vehicle rolled to a stop. "B-because I c-can't d-drive." Her fingers finally disentangled themselves from the knot she'd made of them only to tap away nervously to the rhythm of Chopin's Moonlight Sonata across the pale skin of her knees.

"And why can't you Miss Hyuga?" She finally lost it at the entirely fake sounding British accent, her laughter rolling from her in waves that were quickly joined by her chauffeurs loud accents after just a few short seconds. "See, you can't not answer now. I made you laugh." One blonde brow raised up just a little higher as his pink lips quirked up into a smirk.

"I-I'm g-going blind." His face fell, but the small smile still held bravely on her face, even though her dark eyebrows were knitted together.

"What." He steered the car onto a beaten dirt road, plumes of dust billowing up in front of the vehicle. His blue eyes finally caught her own for the first time since she'd gotten into the car, and the smile dropped from her face. "What," he repeated slowly.

"Y-you h-heard me."

"It's just kinda hard to hear something like that about a new acquaintance, ya know? Is that why you had to hire someone to help you out?"

"N-no, my c-cousin r-requested I d-do it a-after he s-sent m-me out h-here to l-live."

"That's just... Damn girl." A heavy hand rested on her shoulder, but Naruto didn't say anything else until the car slid to a final stop at the end of the impossibly long driveway. "Well, this is it!"

"I-it's v-very nice." The cool fall breeze chilled Hinata's skin as she pushed the door open and stepped onto the front lawn of the Uzumaki household.

"Nothing compared to yours though, Princess." He hustled around the car to where she was standing. "I wanna try and get you inside before my folks find out you're here. My parents are a little... Eccentric." Hinata nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt his large, calloused hand cover the entirety of the small of her back. Naruto led her over the small bumps and dips in the uneven grass, pointing out every little place she could misstep and over to the steps leading up to the porch. She put her hand on the wooden banister, but his voice stopped her. "Can you get up on your own?"

Her face was red, but she couldn't tell if it was from the crisp air or frustration. "I'm not blind yet, I can still do things on my own." She'd meant to yell, she really had, but it came out sounding more like a cat with it's tail being stepped on than the roaring lion she'd been going for. Hinata got onto the first step, then the second and finally the third before turning around to look at Naruto.

The wide grin on his face stopped her anger coldly in its tracks. "I know that." His shoulders shook at his restrained laughter. "I was just trying to be polite Miss Hyuga, I am being paid to watch over you after all." Hinata's face turned a little darker. The wooden step creaked under Naruto's weight as he climbed onto the first one, his smile widening even further if possible. "Look, you're as tall as me now." She hunched over just a little, grateful that he'd dropped the subject without embarrassing her further.

"Y-yeah." Her pink lips curled upward gently.

"Let's get inside, it's cold as hell out here."

"T-that's a l-little redundant, don't y-you think?"

"...If I may be so bold as to say so, please shut up Miss Hyuga."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Mom! Dad! I'm home for food!" Naruto let his leather jacket slide off of his shoulders and hung it up on the neon blue coat rack inside of the small foyer. He took a few steps inside, his heavy boots banging loudly on the wooden floors each time he brought his foot down.

Hinata hung her red jacket on the empty hook beside Naruto's and followed behind the giant man.

"In the kitchen Naru! Minato, get your fingers out of that you idiot. The rest of us don't want to eat after you." Hinata's ears perked up at the volume of the woman's voice. She peeked up at Naruto, then glanced down the hallway he was pulling her down, and realized exactly who he'd gotten his personality from.

The walls were an off-white all throughout the entryway of the home; in the formal living room just to the right of the foyer, the guest bathroom at the foot of the carpeted stairwell, and the long hall that led to the back of the large country-style home and what she assumed was the location of the kitchen. Beautiful wooden floors ran throughout the house and added a touch of simplicity to the chaotic decorations that lined just about every surface in a style that said "Clutter" in a fashion that was still pleasing to the eye. Hinata noticed that none of it was breakable, and didn't even bother to wonder why.

Naruto's hand clapped her soundly on the back, and then he disappeared into a room to the right of the hallway. Hinata adjusted the sleeves on her cream-colored cashmere sweater and pulled at the back of her red plaid skirt before peeking into the room.

The floor was a grey tile that looked somewhat like stone in the spots that weren't covered in what looked to be ash. Naruto had mentioned something about his mother burning down the kitchen, had he been serious? Her bangs tickled the bridge of her nose as she shook her head, ignoring the fact that a bright red fire extinguisher was sitting on the counter beside the toaster.

The counter top was white granite and the cupboards underneath it were made of the same deep, rich brown wood that the floors in the rest of the house were made of. Water was dripping slowly from the stainless steel sink in large drops. Hinata jumped when someone slammed the refrigerator door and stepped in front of the sink, his white sneakers squeaking when he stepped on a bit of water that had splashed out of the sink.

She ran her eyes up his back, taking in the familiar shaggy blonde hair that seemed to be naturally spiked, lightly tanned skin, the sky blue sweater, and dark wash skinny jeans that tapered down to solid white converse.

Had Naruto changed clothes? No, no that wasn't him. Another door slammed around the corner and out of view, then the young man she'd accompanied to the unfamiliar place hurried over to the shorter man by the sink. The older gentleman turned around and slung his arm around the taller blonde's waist in a quick hug. Naruto cringed when a short woman with fiery red hair rushed around from where she'd been setting the table and jerked him down to eye level, giving him a very sound kiss on his tattooed cheek. She patted his head, ruffling the blonde locks, but Naruto kept his embarrassed expression plastered to his face when he saw Hinata duck back around the corner to avoid being seen.

"Oh no you don't, if I'm going down, you're going down with me." Naruto slipped away from the woman that Hinata suspected was either his mother or sister and darted around the corner. His voice quieted considerably, and for once, Hinata felt on par with the blonde. "Why are you hiding? You can't eat if you don't come meet them." His shoulder hit the wall beside him as he leaned against it. The small woman in front of him pushed her glasses up on her nose and adjusted the high ponytail her dark hair was in before knotting her fingers together in front of her to keep from fidgeting.

"I-I'm n-n-no g-good w-with m-m-meeting-"

"Naruto, who on earth do you have hiding out there? It'd better not be one of your troublesome friends again, because I refuse to feed three full grown men all at once again..." The red-headed woman's voice faded out when she paced out into the brightly lit hallway, a bit of white powder falling off of the green apron covering her front to the dark floors.

"Kushina, what's wrong?" The other blonde man, who must've been Naruto's father but looked more like an elder brother to Hinata, stepped into the hallway behind his wife, ringing a dish towel between his large hands. The two glanced at each other, then at a wide-eyed Naruto, and finally settled on the young woman that was quaking almost violently from nerves.

"Naruto's got a girlfriend?!" That was the last straw. Hinata fainted.

. . . . . . . . . . .

End Chapter 2.

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1. I apologize so much for disappearing off of the face of the planet for several weeks! School is torture for us above average peoples who deem fit to take way too many AP classes. For a smart person, I can be such an idiot...

2. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't exactly what you were expecting, but I really like the way that this panned out in the end. Yes, a bit of it was serious and a little sad, but some relationships have to suck at first before they get better. Easiest way for a girl to get a guy's attention, cry. Sympathy works too though, don't get me wrong!

3. I'm going to try and update as many of my stories as I can today, because I honestly have no clue when I'll next have a chance. I'm usually doing about 5 hours worth of homework after school on weekdays, and then I go to work until almost 11. I have no life! I'd have updated last week, but I volunteered to help a teacher and his family move out of their apartment. I swear that the word "Sucker" is written in red across my forehead.

4. Anybody notice that my writing style is more refined? It's always like this when I finally get back to school. Heheh.

5. Sorry that this is so dang short! This is just the perfect time to cut this. :)

Please R & R if you want to keep reading, because I'll be updating according to story popularity for a while. Love, AMB11!


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